1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to telephone call hold systems and, more particularly, to a network-based telephone call hold system that enables a calling party to be notified when the called party is ready to communicate without tying up the calling party's telephone line or the network during the hold condition.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a caing party is placed on hold or waiting for service from a queue, the calling party must continue to listen to the speaker portion of the telephone handset until the called party has removed the hold condition. Absent a speaker phone feature, the calling party must aurally monitor the hold condition by keeping the telephone receiver at the calling party's ear to ensure that the calling party is ready to communicate when the called party becomes available. For example, consider a calling party who calls an airline to make flight reservations. The calling party may remain on hold for a considerable length of time before a live operator becomes available. Unless the calling party has a speaker phone, the calling party must endure through a long waiting period with the telephone receiver at the calling party's ear so that the calling party is ready when the called party service provider becomes available. Moreover, even with the presence of a speaker phone, the calling party is held hostage by the hold condition because the calling party's telephone line remains tied up, thereby precluding the calling party from entertain phone calls from other parties.
Enduring through a hold condition for a prolonged period of time wastes the calling party's time and causes the calling party to become agitated with the called party. As a result, a hostile environment develops when the called party is finally ready to communicate with the calling party. Consequently, it is an overall objective of present invention to provide a more convenient method for notifying the calling party when the called party becomes available to communicate. The prior art provides known yet inadequate solutions.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,142 issued to Caffine teaches the automatic and electronic monitoring of the telephone line during a hold condition in order to detect the presence of a voice signal. Upon detection of a voice signal, an annunciation signal is generated in order to inform the calling party that the called party is ready to communicate. Caffine discloses the use of an electronic voice detection circuit embedded in a line card of the customer premise equipment that operates as a substitute for aural monitoring by the calling party. In this respect, the patent contemplates the use of a circuit that seeks to detect a signal on the telephone line that would indicate the end of the hold interval (i.e. the called party has returned to the phone and spoken into the mouthpiece). Caffine, however, requires the calling party to install a line card with additional voice detection circuitry in place of the standard line card. Consequently, Caffine requires customer premise equipment that keeps the calling party's telephone line and network tied up and precludes the calling party from receiving phone calls from other parties during the call hold period.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,479 issued to Dubner et al. relates to an apparatus comprising an electronic circuit including voice detection circuitry for detecting the presence of a voice signal from the called party. The output of the voice detection circuit is connected to a timer. The output of the timer is connected to an annunciator circuit that produces an annunciation signal for a period of time determined by the timer. The output of the annunciation signal circuitry is also transmitted back to the called party. That transmission attempts to prevent the possibility that the called party will mistakenly believe that the line has gone dead or that the calling party has prematurely terminated the call, thereby urging the called party to remain on line until the calling party has an opportunity to come back to the line. Similar to Caffine, the Dubner et al. require that the calling party physically incorporate an apparatus into a telephone system on the calling party's premises. Thus, like Caffine, Dubner et al. require the use of customer premise equipment that keeps the calling party's telephone line and network tied up and prevents the calling party from receiving other calls during the call hold period.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,551 issued to Katz teaches a system that comprises an appartus for signaling to the calling party that the called party is ready to converse. As soon as the calling party is placed on hold, Katz allows the calling party to press an activate bottom that generates a pre-recorded message to be transmitted back to the called party. The pre-recorded message informs the called party that in order to reestablish communication with the calling party it will be necessary for the called party to enter a certain predetermined dual tone multi frequency (DTMF) signal. The DTMF signal actvates a tone detector that turns off the message generator and produces audio and visual signals to alert the calling party. The calling party then deactivates the system by pressing the deactivate contact botton and picks up the receiver to resume communication. Katz implements a device that allows the customer to activate/deactivate the system. Also, it appears that the activate/deactivate device is implemented on the calling party's premises. Consequently, like the Caffine and Dubner et al. patents, Katz uses customer premise equipment that ties up the calling party's telephone line during the hold condition. Furthermore, the Katz patent allows the called party the option to re-establish contact with the calling party. Under that system, if the called party chooses not to enter the predetermined DTMF dialtone, then the calling party will not have an opportunity to communicate with the called party and the time spent waiting on hold and tying up the telephone line and network will be wasted.